Socials 11 – Chapter 6 Questions

  1. How did the automobile culture change neighbourhoods?
  1. What is the role of the CRTC? Do any media threaten Canadian identity today? Explain.
  1. What challenges did Aboriginal people in Canada face during the 1950s?
  1. Why was Confederation so hotly debated in Newfoundland in 1949?
  1. What are transfer payments? Why were they instituted?
  1. What was the Cold War? Why did the Soviet Union want to have a buffer of countries between it andWestern Europe?
  1. Why was communism considered a threat to democracy?
  1. What groups of Canadians came under suspicion of being communists? What actions were

taken against some of these people?

  1. Identify a) NATO, b) NORAD, c) the DEW Line.
  1. Why was Canada willing to enter an air defence agreement with the United States?
  1. What caused the Korean War? How did Canada participate?
  1. What important roles did Canada play in the Suez crisis?

Critical Thinking Chapter 6

The Red Menace

Read p.192-193. This will give you information about the “threat” of communism coming to Canada and the USA in the 1950’s.

Communism is the idea of a no class system (no upper, middle or lower classes) and that everyone was equal. There would be no wealthy land owners/factory owners as the “people” would own it.

Unions of the past and present encourage the protection of the workers (limits on hours worked, better working conditions, higher pay). Governments and wealthy owners were concerned that the unions would eventually lead us into a communist state.

The “red menace” was the term for finding those citizens who may believe in communism. The goal of the government was to find these communists and imprison them. This led to a “witch hunt” where people would be accused of being a communist because they knew or may have come into contact with a known communist.

Question #1: How does the witch hunt for communists in the 1950s compare to the threat of terrorism today? What rules/laws have been enacted since 9/11 to protect the citizens of Canada and the United States?

Question #2: How can we be vigilant and prevent terrorist acts now without creating another witch hunt?

Document Analysis Chapter 6

Document I

1. Examine these photographs, and discuss what sort of lifestyle was promoted as being acceptable and appropriate duringthe 1950s. (4 marks).

Document II

1. What sort of attitude is represented in these two documents?

2. How reliable are these documents in assessing attitudes in Canada in the
immediate post-war period? (3 marks)

3. How do the quotes from Prime Ministers Pearson and Diefenbaker illustrate a fundamental difference between Canada and the United States? (3 marks)